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Las Vegas Summer League Brings NBA, Coaches Association Together For Inaugural Development Summit

This article is more than 4 years old.

Most people know that NBA Summer League is about development.

It’s the first taste for rookies, both drafted and undrafted, of life in professional basketball. It also serves as an opportunity for younger players trying to earn playing time they missed out on during the regular season due to roster depth.

What most don’t know about Summer League, is that development isn’t constricted to just players.

In fact, Summer League has quickly become an audition for rising assistant coaches to strut their X’s and O’s and game management skills in a no-consequence exhibition environment. And this year, the NBA and the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA) upped the ante off the court with the introduction of the NBA Coaches Equality Initiative.

“Several years ago, the NBCA began hosting meetings with NBA staffs when they came through New York,” said David Fogel, NBCA’s executive director.

“One piece of feedback from these meetings was once they became NBA coaches, there were no league-wide professional development programs. It was extremely important for us to alleviate these concerns and provide professional development opportunities for all coaches regardless of race, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation.”

The Equality Initiative, which took place over two, half-day sessions during the first weekend of the NBA’s annual summer showcase, catered to an audience of invited coaches from around the league while including a handful of established, veteran coaches, such as Los Angeles Lakers’ assistant Lionel Hollins and Portland’s Terry Stotts.  

Speakers ranged from current NBA head and assistant coaches and team governors to media staples from outlets such as Turner, Yahoo! and ESPN. Over the course of the two days, seven panels covered topics headlining brand and culture development, interview preparation and media awareness and was followed by a town hall-style Q and A.

It was a rare display of synergy among peers who otherwise spend their time and make their living competing against one another in one of the most cutthroat and volatile industries around. Although certain coaches and executives were selected to be featured on the dais, there was never a sense that it was a merit-based lecture; rather, a collaboration of unique backgrounds and experiences shared to help one another survive, grow and advance in such a competitive business.

New Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams, who was featured in the “Then and Now: Breaking Through” panel alongside Charlotte’s James Borrego and Atlanta’s Lloyd Pierce, talked of his coaching path that began with premature retirement from his playing career and how he parlayed an internship for Gregg Popovich into his first full-time NBA gig. He answered questions about his path to a second head coaching opportunity, including insight on the importance of self-reflection after his dismissal from the then-New Orleans Hornets in 2015. Upon completion, he returned to a seat in the audience, pen and paper in hand, and was one of the first to ask a question to the following panel.

Although the summit was catered directly to coaches, one panel featured three front office decision-makers in Koby Altman (Cleveland Cavaliers), Neil Olshey (Portland Trail Blazers) and Gersson Rosas (Minnesota Timberwolves), all of whom have diverse backgrounds but share a common denominator in their experience vetting a coaching search.

More than any one specific pointer to landing a job, the honest and straight-forward nature of the executive panel struck a tone that relayed earnest advice geared toward helping the audience of aspiring head coaches. It was a refreshing extension of the olive branch, per se, for two groups who often find the other’s finger pointed at them at times of organizational turbulence.

But the resources revealed at the inaugural initiative weren’t limited to just words of wisdom and success stories.

NBCA president and current Dallas Mavericks head coach, Rick Carlisle, also spoke of a candidate database the NBCA and NBA are collaborating on to increase accessibility to assistants around the league. Such database, which is expected to roll out this coming year, could feature individual profiles, work and interview samples for virtually every coach in the league, accessible to all 30 front offices. It would be an effort to swing away from the traditional hiring model around the NBA, which has historically been through relationships and word-of-mouth recommendations.

"We are not talking about a quota system,” Carlisle said in an interview with ESPN, first reported in May.

"Rival leagues have proven that mandates and demands for diverse hiring practices do not work. Our goal is an absolute equal opportunity for all our members to develop their skills on a level playing field."

Additionally, the NBCA hosted free health screenings for all coaches in light of increased occupation-related medical problems in recent years including stress management and sleep disorders, a resource Fogel said was a major hit among coaches.

“Coach Carlisle and I have a saying that we want to have the most educated group of coaches in all of professional sports,” Fogel told Forbes.

“Part of education is access to incredible teachers, resources and ongoing development. That’s why the NBCA partnered with the NBA to create a 24/7, 365 program that would ensure equal opportunity to develop their skills and gain exposure to team ownership and management.”

As for future collaboration for the NBCA and NBA, the reception and feedback of the Equality Initiative was met with plenty of positive feedback.

“We envision the Equality Initiative being a staple at Summer League, while also providing resources and networking opportunities throughout the rest of the year.”

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